Haunting, Changing, and Rocking

[livingdeb]

I've been listening to a lot of music sung by Richard Schindell lately. The songs are catchy, beautiful, deep and mostly sad, haunting. The first one that grabbed me was in the "Cry, Cry, Cry" album and is about a guy who was scared straight.

I was lying in the garbage [after drinking too much], praying I would die
When a light came on above us, and a voice called from the sky.
Half a dozen unmarked cars came screeching to a halt.
They grabbed Bob. He started screaming it was all my fault.
There were men and dogs and helicopters flying all around.
They had the brothers on the pick-up hood and me down on the ground.

Most are so tragic I am in danger of having nightmares and feeling inadequate for not having made enough of my nontragic life.

Entry of the day - The Simple Dollar's first entry in his Ten Books that Changed My Life Series, Fahrenheit 451. "For too long, I let the values of others - materialism and consumerism - override my own values, and it is something that fills me with regret on a daily basis. My finances were one of the last areas where I let others have so much influence over me; I kept letting the lifestyle of my peer group pull me along for far too long. Every time I have evaluated a portion of my life and put effort into aligning them with my core values, I've grown as an individual - and it all began with Fahrenheit 451."

Coincidentally, I just watched "Pleasantville" at my sister's house, which is supposed to have the same theme, though I find it deeply flawed.

Thing I am not buying - family rocking chair. It seats one adult and two little kids. Very silly.

Comments

songs

[(Anonymous)]

(sally)
It's always a pleasure to hear a Robert Earl Keen song covered by someone who can really sing. (Though I like his own version of "Shades of Grey" too.) REK is a good go-to man for songs about pointless, pathetic stupidity and/or poignant narrative. Do you have a favorite of Schindell's own songs?

Re: songs

[livingdeb.livejournal.com]

Well, the second song that hit me was "Waist Deep in the Big Muddy," which turns out to be by Pete Seeger. Talk about your epitome of songs about pointless, pathetic stupidity. Well, no, that stupidity is more tragic than pathetic. "Che Guevara T-Shirt" fits the bill better.

My current favorite is "The Last Fare of the Day." It's a rare song about someone who likes his job, and his job isn't even that great.

I know it well, this old ballet:
Finding the flow, minding the sway,
Catching green lights all the way.

Re: songs

[(Anonymous)]

(sally)
Yeah, that sounds like a nice illustration of the flow response and a good reminder that experiencing flow is possible even in situations that appear to the outsider to not be "that great." So much is dependent on the particular match up of an individual's skills and the demands of the task. I'm curious now about the rest of the lyrics - I'll check it out.

favorite richard shindell songs

[cartaufalous.livejournal.com]

My favorite Richard Shindell song at he moment is "Abuelita". I also love "last fare of the day", "TV light", "confession", "arrowhead", "are you happy now?", "the kenworth of my dreams", "cancion sencilla", "the last fare of the day", and "Che Guevara T-shirt".